Weekend Getaway: Explore Indonesia Lake Toba

When people hear ‘Indonesia’ , the places that probably comes to mind is the ever green Bali, Bintan, Batam or what I termed as the 3 “B”s,  for Singaporean travellers. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world with over 17,508 islands. Beside being known for its beautiful beaches and crystal clear water, there is a hidden paradise often overlooked by travellers. Could this be Indonesia’s best-kept secret?

Welcome to Lake Toba, enjoying nature at its very best ! This lake is located in the middle of the northern part of Sumatra Island, with a surface elevation of about 900 meters. Get some Instagram -worthy moments. This post will covered on how one can take in beautiful sights of Lake Toba within 4 days, making it an ideal short getaway holiday destination for Singaporeans and Malaysians! Oh, did I also mention that getting into Lake Toba region is quick and easy.

GETTING THERE 

Medan, being the third largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta & Surabaya, she is also the international gateway to Lake Toba. Should you be flying in from Singapore, the nearest international airport is Medan’s Kualanamu International Airport (Airport IATA code: KNO). If you are searching for flight, make sure you input the correct airport code. This is follow by a car ride of 4 hours from Medan airport to Lake Toba region. It only takes 1 hour 25 minutes plane ride directly from Singapore to Medan. Airlines that ply this route include SilkAir, Jetstar Asia.

If you are flying in from Malaysia, you can fly directly into Silangit International Airport (IATA code: DTB), located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. One may fly on AirAsia departing from Kuala Lumpur.

BEAUTY OF LAKE TOBA 

The vast landscape stretches into the lake and carpet grass fade into glittering greens where the water starts to deepen. Imagine spending a week or two just doing nothing, enjoying nature and recharging from draining social interactions that are part and parcel of our daily lives. That is the sort of tranquility one will find in Lake Toba!

• Samosir Island is located in the middle of Lake Toba, almost similar in size as Singapore. That is how big the lake is!
• One Tree Hill, being the highest peak in the region standing at 1700 meters above sea level is one of the best spot to witness sunrise over Lake Toba.
• Swimming in the lake, renting a motorbike to get around is common for tourists on the island. In fact, Tuktuk is the area where most tourists would stay on Samosir Island, a wide range of accommodation options catering from the high to low end market.

Check out at the bottom of the post on a sample itinerary and how you should spend your 4 days in Lake Toba and Medan!

DO YOU KNOW? 

Do you know it is one of the deepest lake in South East Asia and also in the world with a depth of 450 meters!

Do you know the word “HORAS” is often used by the locals living in this part of Sumatra Island. Horas can mean welcome, goodbye, how are you as a form of greetings. So in a typical situation, when you encountered a local, use the word “Horas” at the start or end of your sentence, it will never go wrong. Try it and you will know in Lake Toba, most likely the locals will be beaming from ears to ears when they heard it coming from a non-local.

Do you know 99% of the population here are Christians? Along the way, there were many churches and practically every 3Kilometer travelled, there is bound to be a church found.

Do you know the average temperature in Lake Toba hovers around 25 Degree Celsius? Huray, you need not spend big bucks to go South Korea/ Japan and experience winter. You can now enjoy chilling weather at Indonesia, less than 2 hours flight away from Singapore. In fact, it gets chilly at night when I was there in Lake Toba, with temperature dipping to below 18 Degree Celsius.

Do you know the locals are known as the Bataks and their houses are built in such a unique way that the entrance to the house is low. The objective of doing so is for visitor to bound, lowering your head before one enter the house, giving respect to the house owners.

Do you know Lake Toba has many activities lined up. For instance, the Lake Toba film festival takes place over 2 days in November. Beside that, if you are a music lover, you should not miss the Samosir Music International. If you are looking to challenge yourself, consider taking part in Samosir Lake Toba Ultra Marathon in September.

Do you know Sipiso-piso waterfall found in Lake Toba region is the highest plunge waterfall in Indonesia at 120meters.

Best Time to Visit Lake Toba 

All year round would be good to visit the beautiful lakes and recharge yourself. However, like any destinations in the world, there is an ideal period to go with the best months being February, March, June, July, August, September and October. The rainy season will be in April, May, November and December. Although I went in November, the rain would take place at night, leaving you the next day with sunny yet cooling weather all day round.

Things to do around / in Lake Toba Region: 

• Taman Alam LumbiniPagoda: On the way to Lake Toba, one can visit the highest buddhist temple located in Indonesia. It is a replica of “Shwedagon Pagoda” in Yangon, Myanmar. I have been to the “real” one in Yangon and this is rather a smaller scale of it with the rooftop covered in gold.

• Gundaling Hill: Located about 60 kilometers from Medan, standing at an altitude of more than 1500 meters above sea level, favourite destination for tourists visiting Berastagi to see its natural panorama.
• Bukit Beta: If you stay in the common tourist spots in Tuktuk area, this is a little hill in nearby Tuktuk towards Tomok, which offers a great spot for tranquility. Stroll on the grass in any direction or trek all the way to Siallagan following the wooden signs.
• One Tree Hill: Highest place in Taman Simalem Resort, one can see almost the entire Simalem Resort Park, Tongging Village, Mount Sinabung and Sipiso-piso hill from a distance. Ideal location to witness sunrise!

• Ambarita Village: Famous for its relic heritage, witness how prisoners and hear stories of how the rulers run their court matters in the past.

• Efrata Waterfall: With water dropping from a height of 25-26 meters, Efrata waterfall is one of the must visit attraction along the way to Samosir island.

• Simanindo Village: Learn about the local Batak people culture and heritage which include a museum that showcases traditional clothing, cookware and appliances commonly used in the past. There are daily performances of ancient dances. Monday – Saturdays: 10:30am to 11:10am, 11:45am- 12:30pm. Sunday: 11:45am- 12:30pm.

Tour Options: 

Tour options are readily available to book if you do not arrange it in advance. Usually, the resorts/hotels in Tuktuk area offers tours such as Discovery Tours, include drive up to the mountain with 4WD for the stunning view over Toba caldera. Visit local villages and plantations, inclusive of lunch and local coffee sampling. Otherwise, embark on a bicycle journey that allows one to cycle 3 kilometers  highland, 9 kilometers asphalt road downhill and another 4 kilometers flatland back to Tuktuk accommodation area. How about indulge in a Culinary Tour? Visit the local market, learn more about local spices and get ingredients for local food. Visit a Batak house and try your skills by cooking local dishes on the open fire in the traditional way!

Places to Stay:

As you might already read, Samosir island is located in the middle of Lake Toba and most tourists would flock to stay there. Here is a secret, if you are looking for a location to overlook and capture the raw beauty of Lake Toba region, then you should not be staying on Samosir island. You got to check yourself into Taman Simalem Resort.

Taman Simalem Resort:

In one of the many conversations we had with the Director of Operations who oversees the resort property, I came to learnt that in probably 4-5 years time, there might be cable car operating, with night cruise available for guests to experience another side of Lake Toba. Taman Simalem Resort caters to families, solo/couple travellers and also corporate groups who comes in for group retreat/ meeting. Due to its cold weather, quiet and conducive place, the resort is often visited by groups who chose the dormitory rooms with share toilet facilities.

Taman Simalem Resort had a range of room categories from Superior Lodge to Deluxe / Premier hotel rooms. I had the privilege to stay in one of their many rooms that offers a lake view when you simply just have to step out of your room into the private balcony space.

Taman Simalem Resort offers facilities such as camping, trekking, adventure zone consists of flying fox, paintball activity, bicycle rental, animal farm for the kids, pond fishing, flower nursery and never forget to end the day with a relaxing traditional massage overlooking the lake. Did I also mention that this Eco-friendly resort has 30 hectares of farm and it has a shop on its own to sell organic fruits, coffee beans grown in the area? Sumatra is famous worldwide for its aromatic highland coffee. Organic local Robusta and Arabica beans are roasted and known for her full chocolatey taste. Here is where the Eco-friendly shop are located and the pineapples are the best I had in my life! It was so sweet and juicy that makes me drool when I think of it now. I regretted only buying 4 pineapples back home as it was simply so delicious that friends back home are craving more of it!

One thing that impressed me the most was that the staff at Taman Simalem Resort are all employed from the surrounding local villages. The management started a program to train them up for hospitality sector which I find it appealing and a very good way to improve the standard of living among the locals while giving them the skills required. The Vana Sumutra is another wellness corner or what I would  call as “The Zen” place. A perfect location to practice Yoga and rejuvenate one soul with the natural nearby waterfall adding background music.

The One Tree Hill is an ideal location to witness sunrise over the majestic lake. If you have been to Mount Bromo located in East Java of Indonesia, it is almost as spectacular as it is , less the crowd. You practically have the own private space to yourself to enjoy the sunrise. Certainly a well kept secret!

Sample itinerary: 

Day 1 :

07.30H: Flight from Singapore to Medan

07.55H: Arrive Kualanamu International Airport Medan

(Note, Medan is an hour behind Singapore. We arrive into Medan after 1 hour 30 minutes plane journey)

09.00H: Breakfast in Medan city

10.30H: Head to Taman Alam Lumbini

13.00H: Explore Pagoda at Taman Alam Lumbini 1

14.00H: Lunch

15.00H:  Head to Taman Simalem Resort (stop for photo spot Gundaling)

18.00H:  Arrive Taman Simalem Resort, overnight

Day 2:

05.00H: Morning Call, rise and shine!

05.30H: Heading to One Tree Hill, 15 minutes ride from resort

06.00H: Sunrise

07.00H: Breakfast

10.00H: Depart for Efrata Waterfall

12.00H: Arrive Efrata Waterfall

13.00H: Drive to Ambarita Traditional Village

16.00H: Visit Ambarita Traditional Village

17.30H: Overnight at Tuktuk , Samosir Island

Day 3:

07.30H: Breakfast

09.30H: Head to Simanindo Village

10.00H: Explore and watch cultural performance traditional dance of Batak

12.30H: Lunch

14.00H: Head to Ambarita Port Ferry Terminal

15.30H: Transfer to Ajibata Port by Ferry

18.00H: Sample Piltik Coffee

19.30H: Overnight

Day 4: 

05.30H: Morning Call

06.15H: Head to Silangit International Airport

08.20H: Flight to Medan Town

09.10H: Arrive Medan

10.00H: Head to Tjong Afi Mansion in Medan

11.00H: Tour of Tjong Afi Mansion

12.30H: Lunch

14.30H: Shopping at Medan Town

16.30H: Head to Kualanamu International Airport Medan (Note: Medan downtown is about an hour drive away from the airport)

20.00H: Depart Medan for Singapore

They say a picture paint a thousands of words. What about watching a video showcasing the highlights of Lake Toba, Indonesia? Remember to book the next flight out to explore Medan & Lake Toba as it is less than 2 hour ride from Singapore!

So go on to put on your exploration cap and I am sure many of your friends will be asking you where is this exotic and amazing place.  Wonderful Indonesia, wonderful Lake Toba. 

This trip is made possible with the support of Tourism Indonesia. 

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